


you can hear the ocean?

by pseudo_varya



Series: Dream SMP One-Shots! [1]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: 2020 L'Manberg Election on Dream Team SMP (Video Blogging RPF), Angst, Gen, Manberg, Manberg Festival on Dream Team SMP (Video Blogging RPF), Pogtopia, Tubbo's Execution, l'manberg, little bit of gore, might edit a lot, not romantic i swear, wattpad saw it first so not too detailed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:00:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28228791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pseudo_varya/pseuds/pseudo_varya
Summary: Tommy would do anything for Tubbo... what happens if it's too late?Spoilers for events during L'Manberg Election to the Manberg Festival!
Relationships: Toby Smith | Tubbo & TommyInnit
Series: Dream SMP One-Shots! [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2067888
Kudos: 29





	you can hear the ocean?

**Author's Note:**

> hi there! my pen name is varya-- this is my first time posting a work on ao3, although I've been meaning to forever!
> 
> obviously this fic is spoiler warnings for the events of the L'Manberg Election to the Manberg Festival, so please keep that in mind :) nothing in this fic is romantic-- just clingy duo cause I kinda miss them :(
> 
> also!! I made this fic a couple weeks ago, so this isn't that new of a work! I just wanna get more reach so I'll probably be posting more often! I'm also not too proud of it as it stands now, so I might come through and so some heavy editing as I see fit so yeah!
> 
> the socials I wanna share will be at a note at the end if you read that far! consider dropping kudos or a comment if you enjoy!
> 
> happy reading :)

When Tommy said he would do anything to keep Tubbo from getting hurt, he meant it. But what was he supposed to do now, as he held the dying boy in his arms?

***

Election Day. Tommy was scared, truthfully. As he tidied up in his seat and tugged on his cap to fix his curls underneath, his eyes met those of the crowd around him. Many of them looked hopeful; surely their side would win? Some looked desperate. Some held blank stares. Others were not looking at all, finding things to fidget with in the anticipation. He locked eyes with Tubbo, perhaps one of his best friends on the server; and even in a time when a smile couldn't be mustered, there it was. It was contagious, and Tommy grinned back, giving a small salute to the boy. 

The smile was there in his dying moments, too.

One moment, Wilbur was reading the election results, and the next, he was being driven out of the nation he'd created. In his panic, he lunged for Tubbo, to grab him by the shoulders, call out a stifled "We gotta go-" before he was ripped away from him by the former president and they had taken off into the forest line. At first, this was protested by Tommy, who continued to call out for his friend, until Wilbur had tossed an invisibility potion his way to keep them undercover. They may have snuck off, but Tommy never stopped looking back for Tubbo. 

He and Wilbur had taken refuge in a small mound of dirt that Tommy picked at angrily. Sometimes, he'd tune into the conversations in L'Manberg, try to listen for anything that could help them in the future. Nothing. So the first chance that they could get ahold of Tubbo, Tommy took it. 

"Tubbo?"

"Tommy, it's all gone wrong-!"

"Are you okay?" Tommy said, pacing anxiously. His cap had flown off somewhere in the flee, and he was disheveled, but his eyes were alight with determination. Wilbur watched him from a small cot in the corner, head poised wearily in his chin. While he did not entirely trust Tubbo at this point, he knew Tommy did; and he was hatching up a plan for all of this. "What's going on, Tubbo, talk to me-"

"Schlatt is ruining everything! He wants us to tear down the walls, and the van, and the flag-" Tubbo's voice cut off after a moment, and Tommy froze in his pacing. The threatened destruction cut a hole in his stomach, and the silence that smacked him in the face was cold. There was no noise for a long time, long enough for Tommy to begin to spew his thoughts onto Wilbur, whose gaze stayed defeatedly at the wall ahead.

"Why didn't we bring him with us? What's going on out there? We gotta-"

"Tommy!" Tubbo's voice had come back over the small radio-emitting his voice, and Tommy seized the device immediately, fumbling to get a response out. "Tommy, he's tearing down the walls, he wants us to help! You gotta do something, you have to!"

Tommy barely said another word. After a mumbled "I'm coming, Tubbo", Tommy had been shoved aside by Wilbur, who took off in the direction of L'Manberg and left his right-hand man to scramble after him, still murmuring to Tubbo in an attempt to keep him on the stereo. When he wasn't receiving anything back, he pocketed the little device and chased after Wilbur. 

His sobs could be heard from through the trees. Tommy broke them in time to grab Wilbur seconds before he'd lunged in the river, dragging him back with a fair amount of effort. Wilbur was both taller than him and stronger than him, but the boy made no attempt to fight him, sinking into the grass with Tommy at his side. "L'Manberg, my unfinished symphony!" 

The sixteen-year-old could do nothing but watch from the other side as his colleagues- no, his friends- tore out the walls of their home. Bricks tumbled to their feet, faces twisted in concentration, fear, despair. Tubbo's head popped up from the top and the two made eye contact. He'd never seen the boy without a smile on his face before- but his eyes were telling a million different stories through such a long distance, and it stirred something in Tommy. Anger, the need to protect, to do anything for the boy. 

And it was his vow, right at that moment, as Wilbur's spirit broke alongside the walls that unwilling hands tore apart, that Tommy was going to do whatever it took to protect his best friend.

***

"Tubbo, do you like Schlatt?"

It was a question that, for a minute, threw Tubbo off his guard. He was right in the middle of L'Manberg- or, well Manberg now. Schlatt ordered the name to be changed, and Tubbo hadn't gotten used to it yet. He didn't want to. "Wh-Why do you ask that-?"

"Tubbo, I'm not saying anything more until you've answered me," Came the calm voice again, and the new secretary of state swallowed thickly, looking around for any signs of people walking by. Wilbur had always been someone he looked up to, but he intimidated him, especially when he was being questioned like this. He was much more comfortable talking to Tommy, but he was not involved in this, probably sitting somewhere quietly out of earshot of his friend. "Do you like Schlatt?" 

The boy in question didn't say anything for a moment, looking down at his feet to answer weakly. "Not really, no, Wilbur..." The silence on the other end was deafening, and Tubbo shut his eyes for a moment as if saying that had gotten him into some kind of trouble. But instead, he was met with Wilbur's laughter at the end, and he had to cover up the speaker of the radio so that it wouldn't bounce off the stone walls of the room, eyes flitting about to make sure no one was passing him. He'd thought he was alone, but no place was ever really safe in L'Ma- no, Manberg- anymore. 

So when Wilbur asked him to become a spy for Pogtopia, a new nation of Soot and Innit's design, he obliged almost immediately. Anything to be connected to them. Anything to be connected to Tommy. Of all the things he had in Manberg, he wanted nothing more than to actually see his friend again.

Tommy just wanted him safe.

He sat where Wilbur had sat the first day in their hut with his eyes set on the stone floor, jaw clenched and trying not to let his anger get the best of him. It was sick, what was happening. Schlatt had gone from president to dictator in mere seconds; and now, Tubbo could hardly catch a break from him. When asked, the boy had told them that he'd been instructed to follow the new leader around, do whatever he asked; and that didn't sit right with Tommy. Tubbo wasn't there to be a servant, or a secretary of state, or whatever the hell it actually was- he was meant to be tending to his bees, or helping Wilbur and all those of L'Manberg earn their freedom. Not this. Not hiding from his leader, not spying for both sides...

When Tubbo had finally said goodbye to his friends and the line cut short, the boy slid the radio in his pocket and crept into the hallway before picking up a decent speed. Maybe if he walked fast enough, he could completely bypass Schlatt and-

"Hey, Tubbo."

Tubbo froze in his tracks, face twisting up for a moment before he turned to face the man ahead of him. Schlatt had always been... Tubbo used the word crazy. He might have used the word psychotic had he known how to spell it. 

With a bottle of beer in one hand and a dying flower pinched between thick fingers in the other, Schlatt's gaze never left the drooping pedals he clutched before he tossed it off to the side, watching as it dropped to the floor. Tubbo instinctively moved to retrieve it, but Schlatt's gaze halted him. "You stay there."

The boy nodded meekly, unsure of where to put his hands as Schlatt stood with a groan, nearly every bone in his body giving a crack or a pop as he did so. He was much taller than Tubbo was, and yet walked with some sort of hunch that caused him to tower entirely over the boy. Tubbo's green gaze slid up to meet the reddened, bloodshot amber of Schlatt's. It unnerved him quite a bit; and he shifted anxiously to try to slide out from under the man's gaze. "Yes, Schlatt...?"

"Heard you talking in the other room," The man mused, gaze going from the boy to sweep around the room, turning on his heels to flop back into his seat. Tubbo stiffened, vision blurring at the edges in his pure fear. How much had he even heard? "Quite the interesting conversation going on there."

Tubbo gave a nervous laugh of sorts, and his head dipped slightly to try to pull more attention off of him. The smaller he was, the better, and he could stay out of Schlatt's radar. "It was, it  
was-"

Schlatt didn't give him the time to finish his sentence before he spoke up again. "You know, Tubbo, you're just like- when I get close to you, it's kind of like one of those conch shells," He said, taking another sip of the beer and cuffing off some that had spilled from the corner of his mouth. "Yaknow what you hear out of conch shells?"

This threw Tubbo off for a moment, as most things seemed to do nowadays, and he stammered out a response. He was enormously unsure of whatever metaphor Schlatt seemed to be alluding to, but if he didn't answer he'd just piss them off. "You can hear the ocean?"

"Well yes, but no," Schlatt replied, setting his beer down to run a hand through his hair, over the curled ram horns growing from his skull. Sometimes Tubbo swore they got bigger every day, and he often wondered if he would ever grow any himself being under his rule like this. "I can hear... I can hear whining. Screaming, crying toddlers, the sounds of disagreement, of betrayal-"

The word betrayal sent Tubbo's heart to his chest and he instantly tried to speak over him, to cut off his train of thought. "Schlatt, that's-"

Schlatt didn't stop and wait for Tubbo to finish stammering out a whiny sentence. "Screaming, crying brats, somehow... upset with me..." The man had trailed off to bite hard on his lip, unfocused gaze at the wall in an almost pondering thought. "I'll tell you what, here, Tubbo. You've got one chance to tell me what that stupid little radio shit was about. You can lie, or you can tell the truth. But if you lie to me and I figure it out, this happy ending for a wasted L'Manberg you care so much about is over."

The words placed hesitance in Tubbo's chest, cold and stifling. There was no way he could rat out his friends. No way. And when Schlatt's eyes had redirected toward him, he dropped his to the rug on the carpet. Come on, Toby, use your brain for once-

"I was trying to contact Dream about expanding L'Manberg. Wilbur intercepted the line, I must have gotten the wavelengths wrong... we talked, but nothing is happening-"

Schlatt raised a hand that cut Tubbo's words off in his throat. There were no words spoken; Tubbo was too terrified, and he was convinced Schlatt was just staying silent for the intimidation factor. But, instead of ordering someone to cut his head clean off as he'd originally thought, he simply down the rest of his beer and rolled the glass off of the table. Tubbo winced when it shattered, shuffling out of the way of the shards of glass. 

"Clean it up," Came the dark voice. Schlatt had turned to face away from Tubbo, silhouette outlined by the open window ahead. "And get me another beer while you're at it."

***

The Festival of Manberg was two weeks later. Tubbo, regularly, had been convening with the secret nation of Pogtopia to keep them under wraps, explain their plans. But Wilbur had turned to a new motive. "Blow the place to smithereens", he called it. Tubbo didn't like it.

Neither did Tommy. Sat atop the white house with Wilbur pacing behind him, his jaw clenched at the sight below. They all looked so... happy. Well, besides the few that had always remained loyal. Niki was one of them; Wilbur was fond of her, and Tommy half-heartedly recalled the times they'd been goggling at each other while Tommy threw himself dramatically on the floor and pretended to wretch his guts up at their cheesiness. It wasn't enough to put a smile on his face this time.

Manberg was having PvP battles hosted in what looked like boxing rings just behind the podium; squaring off, laughing as the other yelled for surrender or complained about their swords breaking. To think that Wilbur wanted all of this land gone, and he was the one who had fought for it in the first place. It sickened him. And yet, it worried him. Wilbur had been the person he looked up to most, and 

"Hey, Tommy-"

The familiar voice to Tommy's right startled him enough for him to pull his head up from where he'd been loading his crossbow. Tubbo looked as happy as always- Schlatt was allowing him to give a speech during the festival, and it often made him wonder where Tubbo's loyalties truly lied. He was all dressed up; Tommy had never seen him in a tie before. "What are you doing up here?" He'd said, trying to keep his voice on the lighter side. Technically, Tubbo was supposed to be down there, battling right alongside the rest of them. 

"I just wanted to talk to you," Tubbo shrugged, pulling himself up all the way to sit and watch the boy as he fiddled with the crossbow. It took quite a bit of strength to get it loaded, and Tommy alone didn't have that power. After a mumbled "here, let me help you,", Tubbo had reached forward to take hold of the other side of the string to try to help him pull it up. After a moment of both of them tugging on the string, and some laughing in the process, they'd managed to load it, and Tommy set it off to the side to turn his full attention to Tubbo, who picked up on his original train of thought. "Is Wilbur gonna... you know..."

"I don't know yet."

Wilbur, who'd been pacing behind them, spoke for himself as his pacing slowed to a stop, looking down on them. In a time where he might have been amused by their antics of trying to load a crossbow ten times more stubborn than them, it just irritated him. He still viewed Tubbo as a traitor like the rest of them. He could still remember the words he'd thrown so haphazardly to Tommy, anything to make him vulnerable, to get him on his side. It hadn't worked out well. "That's up to you, Tubbo."

"Me?" Tubbo's wide gaze flicked from Wilbur to Tommy, as if this concept would be new to his colleague, too. Tommy had turned his gaze to the arrow loaded into the crossbow. He drew his finger carefully along the point, sharpened to a point. He only wanted to shoot it if Tubbo was put in danger, or if he got mad enough at Schlatt that Wilbur could permit it.

"You. Tubbo, I-" Wilbur echoed, kneeling between Tubbo and Tommy to put a hand on the boy's back. It took a moment before he said anything else- thinking through what he wanted to say. His tone had gone almost worried as he looked back at him. "Is Schlatt- is he a good leader?"

Tubbo's gaze went between the two boys again, Tommy was still running his fingers along the tip of the arrow. It was a wonder he hadn't nicked himself with it, yet. "Uhm-"

"Don't-" Wilbur removed the hand from Tubbo's back to bring them through his hair, rocking back on his heels for a moment. "Don't sugarcoat it or anything- you're not a spy right now, you're just-" He'd dropped his hands from his hair onto the boy's shoulders with a tight grip, shaking him a little in his franticity. It startled Tubbo, quite frankly. He'd never seen Wilbur look so unhinged. "You're a friend. We're talking friend-to-friend here. Is Schlatt a good leader?"

It took Tubbo a couple of moments to get his mouth moist enough to speak again. It'd been too dry before- and he took another long glance at Tommy before speaking. "He's... made a lot of improvements, but his ideas are strange..."

Wilbur thought about this, bringing a hand to his lips to chew at a hangnail on his thumb. His next question was directed towards Tommy. "Is that- good enough to murder? Assassination worthy?" Tubbo's eyebrows shot up at the mention of murder, and he looked at Tommy as well. He didn't speak, but he jumped a bit, bringing his fingers to his lips. He'd finally pierced himself with it. He sucked on it for a moment, running a finger over the blood before swiping it off on the bandana around his neck. 

"Tubbo, are you happier?"

The words carved a pit in Tubbo's chest. No, no, of course he wasn't. Schlatt was terrifying, and he was cruel, and he'd taken down everything he had ever loved, kicked out the people he was closest to. The person he was closest to. But Tubbo had never been good at expressing himself. And he could hardly get the words out to help him now. "Uhm... definitely not more than when you guys were in charge..."

He was wishing they were still in charge, now.

***

Tubbo had just finished up the speech. The crowd had erupted into claps and cheers, anxious to get out of their chairs and get the festival started. He looked to Tommy on the roof- he was poised with the crossbow over the ledge, but he looked up just long enough to give a nod to Tubbo. Easy. Or so they thought. Tubbo turned a relieved gaze back to the crowd, letting a smile spread onto his face. So far so good.

The crowd silenced, awaiting some sort of direction, but one voice continued to reign long past the cheering. Picked up from the microphone, Schlatt was stood in the corner with a maniacal, but quiet chuckle. Tubbo was hopelessly clueless at that moment. "Say, Tubbo," He said, stepping forward to analyze the boy. "Anything else in that speech?"

Tubbo shook his head, deflecting the question. Wilbur had mentioned that if he said a certain line, he'd go through with the explosion. Tubbo had purposefully avoided that part of his speech. But Schlatt could have never figured that out, right? He'd never told him that, and he hadn't been there to hear it... "No, no, that's it- let the festival begin!"

It happened far too quickly for Tubbo to comprehend, and he'd never been that much of a quick thinker to begin with. He was the type of person that, in a fight or flight situation, he froze.

Schlatt had given a wave of a hand toward Quackity mumbling something along the lines of "here, help me with this". Within moments, as the boy standing at the podium uttered a meek "Schlatt...?", large yellow walls had been pressed up on either side of Tubbo, encasing him. He could no longer see Tommy or Wilbur- his last moments of seeing them had been Tommy's panicked expression when the final wall had slammed in his friend's face. Schlatt's voice distracted Tubbo from where he'd been pressing against the walls, the panic of being enclosed settling into his chest. Everybody else in the crowd had been watching with a stunned dread. Niki had cried out a "please, let him go!", but Techno shook his head silently at her. There was no reason to instigate; Schlatt was going to do whatever he was going to do.

"Now, Tubbo, it's really embarrassing to have to say this in front of everyone... well, awkward to," Schlatt had begun, straightening out the cuffs of his sleeves as he turned to face the boy with a menacing glare. There was no smile- Schlatt was dangerous, here. "I know what you've been up to."

Tubbo's eyes widened, and he tried once more to push on the walls- but they'd been solidified. "Schlatt, that's- what are you talking about-"

He winced, arms retreating from the wall when Schlatt's voice had cut him off, much louder and more intimidating than before. "You've been... conspiring! With the idiots- with the tyrants that we kicked out of this country!" Schlatt said, leaning over the fencing in front of Tubbo. The boy had fallen silent, leaning against the back of the wall to try to get away from the accusations. Where was Tommy? Or Wilbur, or Techno or Niki or anyone- "Tubbo, I don't know if you know this, but uh... treason isn't exactly something that is looked up to in this country.

"I know what you've been up to, buddy. It all adds up." Schlatt had begun to pace about the same way Wilbur had on the roof, and Tubbo tried pushing once more on the walls. He wanted to at least know he hadn't gotten Tommy and Wilbur found out, but he couldn't see anything outside the yellow walls and the thick fencing in front of his eyes. "The tunnels, your sudden absences- I mean, you fucking walked out of this one! I see it with my own eyes!"

Tubbo was at a loss for words. He would have never thought that Schlatt was smart enough to figure this all out... but Schlatt wasn't finished speaking. He'd knelt at the fencing where Tubbo had sunken down in a form of defeat, trying to keep his fingers from trembling where they pressed against the wall on either side of him. "Do you know what happens to traitors, Tubbo?"

"Uh-"

"Nothing good."

***

"NO!"

Tommy's scream had totally blown his cover, but Wilbur had somehow disappeared in the midst of the chaos. Leaping from the building, he'd taken a nasty fall, narrowly avoiding a firework that had shot right past his left ear, scrambling for the podium and shoving past panicked people as the ran in all different directions around him. Techno had gone absolutely insane- as soon as he'd been pressured enough by Schlatt to kill Tubbo, he'd turned on all of them at once. It made Tommy grit his teeth. That was his friend, both of their allies, and he'd just- 

He'd shot a firework at his fucking chest.

The walls had held up the explosion, though not well. The force had been enough to send Schlatt and Quackity over the edge into the water below, but Tubbo had been entirely stuck- he was terrified of what he might find inside. He climbed the ivy, gripping it tighter when a firework went off to his left, swinging him to the side. He hissed when hot shards of metal pelted his skin, but he continued to climb- he needed to get to Tubbo. He'd barely looked inside before he'd launched himself at the fencing and the walls, trying desperately to pull them apart so he could get to his friend. The pained groans and whimpers coming from inside terrified him.

Tubbo had not taken the impact well. A sizable portion of his abdomen had been blown out with the explosion, but Tommy ignored the blood around as he finally gave in and hopped over the fencing, kneeling at his friend's side. His once clean suit had been torn through, and the wound had cauterized from the burning. For once, he was at a loss, sheer panic seizing him. He was helpless. Utterly helpless as his friend trembled in his arms. He didn't even know how to help; what else was he supposed to do?

"Tubbo-"

Tommy had never been one to cry. Even now, as he scooped his friend up into his lap, wincing when the boy hardly made any movement against him, he had no urge to cry. He was angry. He wanted to go down there and give Schlatt the fucking be all to end all, he wanted Wilbur to push that goddamned button already- 

Tubbo had brought an arm up and around Tommy's neck in an attempt to pull himself up. He was pale, shaking like a leaf, and Tommy thought it was strange how he could have sworn he could see his insides clunking along from the muscles that had been separated. He couldn't help but stare at it for a few stunned moments before jumping into the motions of keeping Tubbo still. "Hey, stay still-"

"Wilbur..." The boy choked out, ignoring the blood that dribbled down his chin. "He said that... that Techno wouldn't... wouldn't hurt me-"

"I know," Tommy said, bringing up a hand to swipe at the blood on his face with a troubled frown. "I don't know why he did that," Tubbo had lost his grip on Tommy, head lolling slightly. His eyes had begun to glaze over, and in a panic, Tommy changed the subject quickly enough to be able to get out the thoughts he'd been muddling through for the past couple of minutes. He couldn't lose his best friend without telling him everything he needed to first. "I'm here, Tubbo, I'm here-"

"Tommy, I don't... I don't wanna die-"

"I know, I know, but I'm not gonna go anywhere, I'm right here-"

"You and me, right?" Came the boy's voice, shaky with the effort of speaking. It'd silenced Tommy for a long time. Not only had it been so sudden in contrast to the boy's words before, but the realization that Tubbo was actually going to die had sunken in- there was no escaping this. He was losing his best friend for good. No more pranking Fundy, no more conspiring against Schlatt, or sitting on the bench with the discs to watch the sunset... he was going to be alone. Tubbo spoke again, and it pulled Tommy's gaze back to the boy's pale face. "Forever and ever?"

Tommy brought a hand up to ruffle Tubbo's matted hair with a faint smile, which had earned a choked laugh from the boy. Even in his dying moments, he was still trying to smile. "Yeah. You and me, Tub. Forever and ever."

The confirmation earned a small nod from Tubbo, who nodded again and let his head drop against Tommy's chest. The heartbeat was comforting, made him less scared to go. 

Thump. 

Thump. 

Thump.

Tommy felt sick to his stomach. Watching the life drain from Tubbo was like watching everything he'd worked for fall apart. And when the boy had finally given a final exhale, entire body closing up on itself, Tommy picked him up numbly to hop from the podium (where he'd almost lost his grip on the boy thanks to the sticky blood), stagger down the center aisle of the seating for the festival. Those who hadn't been injured watched in a mild shock; Tubbo had been the only fatality, and he'd been beloved by most. 

As Tommy carried Tubbo's limp body to the cemetery, most in pursuit to say goodbye to their companion gone too soon, the setting sun caught the glimpse of something on Tommy's cheek, something he didn't have the strength to fight off.

A single tear.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! if you like it, consider kudos or a comment, it means the world and I'll definitely see them!
> 
> my socials:  
> twitter: @kyialikekyle  
> wattpad: @pseudo_varya


End file.
